


The Tourist

by icosahedonist (teljhin)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 16:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15667392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teljhin/pseuds/icosahedonist
Summary: In the year and a half that Sid has been coming to this cafe, this is the first time he's spied anyone coming to the canal from the forest.But today there's a man there.A magus.





	The Tourist

In the year and a half that Sid has been coming to this cafe, this is the first time he's spied anyone coming to the canal from the forest.

A year and a half of gazing long into the deep green maze of trees that borders the thin canal running along the southern edge of the city; a year and a half of sitting at the same table, at the same time, breathing in the same heady coffee scent that pervaded the small shop; a year and a half to idly ponder on the long-unseen magi who centuries ago fled south to safer havens, ponder then return to the drudgery of his working lunch.

In all that time, nothing—as it should have been. But today there's a man in the forest. _A magus._

He's tall, with dark hair and a long face. His garb is a long off-white robe, shapeless as a sack, and around his neck are several pendants that glint in the sun when he moves. He's barefoot. And when he approaches the canal, he does so without hesitation and without any indication that he's being watched. That he's a scant distance away from a human—well, non-magi—city.

The magus washes his face in the canal as Sid stares. Sid's not sure what to do; he glances around the cafe furtively, but everyone else seems oblivious to the magus crouched just outside.

 _No one knows but me_ , he thinks, a giddy thrill coursing through him. Oh, he'd daydreamed as a child of meeting the magi, of being whisked off to their lands and hailed as the long-lost princeling who'd somehow wandered across the barrier and been living among the non-magical all these years. This was a common fantasy among children. And like all childhood fantasies, he eventually gave it up for the bland reality that no, he wasn't magical, no magi were going to whisk him away, and the odds of ever seeing a magus were so slim as to be ludicrous.

And yet he's staring at one now.

The magus shakes the water from his hands and scrubs his face with the sleeve of his robe. He looks around at the buildings on either side of the shop, then finally he looks straight ahead. He goes still, because now he's staring at Sid staring at him.

Fleeting panic makes Sid raise his hand and wave. He feels foolish, berating himself silently—but the magus, maybe feeling the same, hesitantly waves back. And then they're back to staring at one another. Before Sid can get the good sense to head outside to the canal, the magus stands. He waves again, and Sid watches as he climbs the short bank back into the forest and disappears into the green.

He sits back in his chair, a little stunned. Suffice to say, Sid doesn't get much work done the rest of the day.

* * *

The next day he's cautiously optimistic. Seeing the magus could have been a one-off, or a hallucination. But Sid has this strange feeling that he'll see him again: after all, if he'd just wanted to wash his face, he could surely do that without crossing the barrier. And _why_ had he crossed the barrier, and how? Sid's never heard of anyone crossing since the barrier was erected years ago. He knows people routinely tried, but they're either stopped long before they got there, or, mostly likely due to whatever magic powered the barrier, get turned around and end up back where they started. However the magus did it, he could surely do it again. So Sid thinks, he hopes, that he'll see the magus today.

He hardly touches his coffee. His laptop doesn't even make it out of his bag. He's too focused on the forest, watching eagerly for any twitch of movement. A few times he spots something, but it turns out to be squirrels or birds. As his allotted hour ticks away with nothing to show for it, he begins to think he was foolish for hoping.

He decides to just go. He throws away his half-drank coffee, and as he goes back to his table, he takes one last look out the window—

The magus is walking toward the canal.

Sid snatches up his bag and darts out the cafe. It takes him a minute to get to the canal, having to go down the row of shops to get to an alleyway to the back, and with each passing second he prays the magus hasn't left yet.

He clatters to a halt when he comes through, causing the magus to jerk back in alarm. Face awash with worry, he looks toward the forest—looks, Sid realizes, like he's trying to decide if this was a bad idea.

"Please," Sid says hurriedly. The magus turns toward him, his brow furrowed, and Sid says again, "Please. I…"

He's at a loss for words. It feels a little like making first contact with an alien: what does one _say_ in that situation? But he then realizes that whatever significance this moment has, he has to start with the most basic of steps.

Sid draws himself up. He gingerly makes his way down the canal's slope and, at the edge of the water, scant feet away from the other man, he reaches across and holds out his hand.

"Hello," he says. "I'm Sidney. It's nice to meet you."

The magus stares for a moment. Finally he takes Sid's hand in his and says… something. His tone is genial, though, so Sid mentally braces himself for some cross-culture charades. Before he can make any gestures, however, the magus plucks one of his pendants out of the jumble and holds it to his mouth. The words he whispers are equally unintelligible, but this time Sid can _feel_ the faint tremor of power that they convey. The magic he imparts sends a chill down Sid's spine, yet it doesn't scare him. He had wondered how he could feel if ever faced with actual magic, if it would frighten him. Instead, it feels like stepping out of his house when the first snow of winter falls: cold, and a little dangerous if it becomes a blizzard—yet just as naturally part of the world.

The spell subsides. The magus lets the pendant drop back to his chest, and he says in a smooth, deep voice, "Hello. My name is Evgeni."

Sid blinks at the man. At Evgeni, who now offers him a shy smile. Without thinking he breathes out a faint _wow_ , and Evgeni's smile grows toothy. Then Sid remembers his manners and introduces himself again.

And then he's not sure what to say. He has so many questions, all of them tumbling to the tip of his tongue, ready to spring forth as soon as he opens his mouth. But this is such a momentous occasion; the hows and whys should probably wait, shouldn't they?

While he's struggling for words, Evgeni decides for him. He nods at Sid and asks, "Where did you get that?"

Baffled, Sid looks down at himself. "My… shirt?"

"Yes."

"Uh. I don't really remember, probably the mall somewhere…?"

"Can we go there? Or, ah, your—people pay for items, don't they? I don't have any money," Evgeni says with chagrin.

"Oh that's fine, I can pay," Sid insists. Then: "It's just, right now, I have to get back to work. Can you come back tomorrow around the same time? We can go then."

Evgeni looks up at the sky, and turns his head toward the forest. He deliberates a moment and nods. "Tomorrow. Thank you, Sidney." he says this gravely, as if Sid offering to take him to the mall for some clothes shopping is a great honor. Sid just nods, and at that Evgeni strides back through the trees, his white-clad figure eventually obscured by leaves and distance.

Sid goes back to work in a daze, thinking about shirts, and the warmth of Evgeni's hand, and the cool delight of his magic.

* * *

Sid takes a personal day for this little expedition. True to his word, Evgeni meets him at the canal, this time wearing plain trousers and something that looks like a poncho, both still off-white. Sid wonders if the magi don't like dying their clothes, or if maybe Evgeni just prefers it like this. At least he has shoes this time.

He finds himself holding his breath a little when Evgeni easily jumps the canal, like someone is going to burst out of the alley and… do what? There hasn't been a border guard in decades, and a quick glance at the cafe shows everyone paying attention to anything but Sid and Evgeni. He supposes that so long as Evgeni doesn't do anything particularly magical, no one will pay them any mind. And when they begin perusing the stores at the mall, Sid's assumption is confirmed: no one comes up to them, except to ask if they need assistance, and Evgeni's garb and accent are taken as the markers of a foreigner who wants to do some local shopping with a friend. Which is true.

And, Sid finds out, Evgeni _loves_ to shop. Every shirt, belt, and pair of pants, no matter how stylish or hideous, becomes a new source of fascination. He tries on just about everything, asking for Sid's opinion each time he emerges from the dressing room.

He's lean under those shapeless garments, Sid learns, once he's dressed in non-magi clothes. Not thin, but sturdy. Well, not sturdy in the same way Sid's sturdy, but Sid thinks that if he were to try to push Evgeni over, he'd have a hard time accomplishing that. Which is an absurd thought to have, because what reason would he have for doing that?

Sid puts it out of his mind and pays for some pants and a couple pairs of socks.

"Thank you for today, Sidney," Evgeni says while they eat sub sandwiches in the food court. He eats with gusto, and it makes Sid—not envious, really, but maybe a little wishful, seeing him experience a turkey club for the first time. There's plenty of food in the world he hasn't tasted, but to be able to try something from what might as well be a whole other world… He wonders what it's like, the magic lands. He doesn't even know what their country is called, if it has a name—there's so much he doesn't know.

For now, he smiles and shakes his head. "It's no problem. Not every day you get to do something like this, eh?" Meeting a magus, taking him into the city, buying him food and clothes… It's not quite what he dreamed up as a boy, but the child in him is delighted all the same.

Evgeni smiles back. "No. But you've done me a great service, and for that I must pay you back."

"Oh, you don't have to do that—"

"Maybe not"—Evgeni's eyes crinkle up with his smile, and Sid doesn't think their sparkle has anything to do with the skylights overhead—"but still. I'm sure you have questions as well." He sits back and laces his fingers over his new blue and white checkered shirt.

Sid hardly has to think about his first question. "How did you get past the barrier? Whenever someone on this side tries, they get turned around and wind up where they began. Is it—I assume it's because of the magic, but can all magi cross?" he asks, voice lowering to a whisper at the end. He glances around, but like the cafe, no one is looking at them. Then he begins to wonder—"Are you the first, or have others crossed before?" He assumes that if somehow magi had been coming across the border before Evgeni, that somebody other than the tabloids would have picked up on it.

"Anyone can cross," Evgeni blithely declares with a shrug.

Sid feels his jaw go slack. " _Anyone?_ "

"Yes." As if this statement doesn't rock one of Sid's fundamental worldviews. He clarifies, "If you know where to look. The barrier isn't a perfect, impermeable bubble; it never was. There are… gaps. Most of them are too small but I found one large enough to pass through. The magic that scaffolds the barrier is old, so I think with sufficient casting, the gaps could be widened. Maybe even…" he trails off, but Sid instantly knows what he means.

"Take down the barrier?" Sid breathes.

Evgeni nods. He looks away as he says, "We're taught that we created the barrier to protect ourselves, but what good has come of being separated from the rest of the world?" He pauses. It seems like he has more to say, but he shakes his head. "Anyway. I don't know if anyone's ever crossed before, but I wouldn't be surprised. Who wouldn't want to experience this?" Grinning, he pops a potato chip into his mouth.

Amused, Sid says, "Is that why you crossed the border? To try our food and clothes?"

"I'm a tourist, Sidney! So I must do touristy things. Ah, you will have to show me the famous sites of this place, tell me its history! It must be done," he proclaims, and Sid laughs and thinks that he would play tour guide for as long as Evgeni wished it.

The afternoon is bleeding into evening, however, so they gather their bags and head back to the canal. Before they get there, Evgeni ducks into a public restroom to change back into what he wore before. At the edge of the trees, he hands Sid his bags with a wistful smile; Sid tries to give them back, but Evgeni stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think it would be wise for me to carry those back just yet," he says, his words edged with melancholy. Sid is reluctant to agree, but he's right: for all that no one paid them any mind all afternoon, it'd likely be just as obvious to the magi that Evgeni had snuck out as if someone here had caught him casting a spell—and maybe dangerous. Sid still knows so little, but he hopes in time that will change. He hopes…

"Would you…" Evgeni begins. Sid waits for him to finish, but instead he reaches up behind his neck and unclasps one of his pendants. Holding it in his hand, he casts a spell upon it, the cool chill of magic giving Sid goosebumps. He grasps the ends and gestures at Sid, and at Sid's nod he moves closer. His fingers brushing Sid's nape, Sid holds his breath as Evgeni puts the necklace on him, exhaling only when he steps away.

"It's… you don't have to come back here. This way, I can find you, and come to you. If you want," Evgeni adds hurriedly.

Sid examines the pendant. It kind of looks like a religious icon: a woman's face turned up toward heaven, a halo crowning her head. Mary, perhaps, or a saint. The metal is warm from Evgeni's body, and Sid gently tucks it under his shirt.

"I'll have to introduce you to smartphones sometime," Sid says with a smile. Evgeni looks politely confused, so he adds, "Yes, I'd like you to visit. And…"

"And?" Evgeni prompts when Sid falls silent.

"When I was a kid," Sid says, "I dreamed of crossing the barrier. I'd pretend I was a magus who'd gotten lost, that one day the magi would come to take me back." He smiles down at the ground. "I thought meeting a magus was just a fantasy. But here you are." He looks back up at Evgeni. "Did you ever…?"

He doesn't finish his sentence, but he doesn't need to. Evgeni nods. "I didn't think it possible either. I wanted to know what was outside the barrier, and now that I've had this small taste, I want to know everything."

Sidney decides to voice his hope. "I wish I could see the magic lands."

Evgeni touches his shoulder. "Then come with me, Sidney. Not today, but come see my homeland sometime. Be a tourist. Let me provide you with food and clothes."

A warm glow settles in Sid's belly. He nods. "I'd like that a lot," he says softly.

Evgeni leans in to give Sid a kiss on the cheek. Sid feels a bit at a loss—is this a magi custom? Should he return it? But Evgeni smiles like he knows a secret, and only says, "Tomorrow," before heading home.

Sid watches him go, his fingers touching the pendant beneath his shirt. Then, long after Evgeni has disappeared, he heads home too.


End file.
